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The 20th Waffen Grenadier Division, consisting mostly of forced draftees from
Estonia, was formed in the spring of 1944. This division took part in German
efforts to halt the Baltic Offensive initiated by the Red Army in September-November
of 1944. This massive Soviet effort penetrated through to the Baltic Sea and
succeeded in permanently splitting the land connection between the German Army
Group Center and Army Group North. As well as expelling German forces from Estonia
and Lithuania, the rolling series of offensives trapped a large number of German
troops in Latvia.

Recognizing that Army Group North had been permanently cut off, it was renamed
Army Group Courland. The Red Army progressively reduced this Courland Pocket
in Latvia, and 200,000 remaining German soldiers were captured there at the
end of the war. The Baltic Offensive resulted in a total of 260,000 casualties
from both sides.

Dragon’s newest 1/35 figure set depicts four soldiers from the 20th Waffen
Grenadier Division fighting in this fierce campaign. Reflecting the desperate
battle of survival as they defend their Estonian homeland against hordes of
infantry and T-34 tanks, these soldiers wield a range of weapons such as a Kar98
with grenade launcher, Panzerfaust, MP-40, G41(W) semi-automatic rifle, Geballte
Ladung concentrated charge (grenade bundle) and even a Molotov cocktail. To
protect against the onset of the Baltic winter, these conscripts are wearing
heavy parkas. The poses are vivid and novel, and they capture the desperate
nature of the fighting. Whether in muddy trenches or amidst wrecked T-34 tanks,
these figures will fit well in a variety of wintry late-war scenarios.